SMTP is a widely used and deployed protocol for E-mail over the internet. Though it has been very effective for mails, various extensions have been requested by Internet users and many have been suggested and implemented. too.
The current SMTP protocol uses the following keywords for simple mailing:    HELO to introduce yourself (helo <hostame>)    MAIL to specify the sender (MAIL FROM: <sender> [<parameters>])    RCPT to specify the recipients (RCPT TO: <recipient> [<parameters>]).    DATA to specify the message (ending with a dot in a single line)    (In MAIL and RCPT, parameters are ESMTP extensions)
The other keywords used are:
RSET to reset the system, NOOP for no operation, QUIT for exiting from SMT program, VRFY to verify an address (probably from an address book), EXPN (expand a name/mailing list etc), VERB for verbose mode, ETRN to run the queue.
To replace the MAIL command, three new commands have been defined:    SEND: This sends the mail directly to the users terminal.    SOML: This sends the mail to the users terminal and sends a mail if the user is not logged on.    SAML: This performs the function of both SEND and MAIL commands.
The SMTP protocol requires that an SMTP server provide notification of delivery failure, if it determines that a message cannot be delivered to one or more recipients. It comes to the sender of the mail as a normal Internet message containing an explanation of the error and the header of the failed message (or the full message). Usually this will contain the recipient it could not send the message to and the routing path. This requires sufficient information to be stored and returned to the sender. This is mentioned in the current protocols as DSN (Delivery Status Notification). This can be specified in the parameters of MAIL and RCPT commands as mentioned earlier.
For example    MAIL FROM: <sender> [RET={FULL|HDRS}][ENVID=<envid>]    RCPT TO: <recipient> [NOTIFY={NEVER,SUCCESS,FAILURE,DELAY}][ORCPT=<recipient>]where RET is whether to return the full message or only headers, ENVID is the Sender's “envelope identifier” for tracking, NOTIFY is when to send the notification and ORCPT is the original recipient.The Problem
The FAILURE on delivering mail is a nuisance for internet users. There can be numerous reasons for this. Undelivered messages cite various reasons like Mailbox full, or Relaying denied. Many times recipient mail servers reject mails from unauthorised domains or reject mails whose size exceeds a specified value. In other cases, people close their accounts or are removed by administrators (for example when an employee retires). Very frequently the servers themselves are down and the mails get returned. Sometimes the email address gets changed or the sender writes a wrong address. An example would be the change of id for a particular user.
Another problem is when people are out of office, they are unable to see their messages. This problem is partially alleviated using WAP. This enables people to access their mails while they are travelling or not in office through mobile phones and laptops. However, it still does not deal with the problem of returned mails. Also, not many people would be using this as it would be costly for them to do so. In many countries people do not even carry laptops or mobile phones, so the implementation of WAP is not feasible or would at least take some time to be helpful.
Lotus Notes mail system and maybe some others give the facility of forward i.e. forward all mails to a particular address when they put a Out of office notification. However, this also only partially solves the problem and is not effective when the server itself refuses the mail or the server is down or the email address is itself wrong.
As mentioned earlier, extensions have been made to the SMTP protocol in the past, for instance, U.S. Pat. No. 6,035,327 describes an extension to preserve per message and per recipient properties. However, none of these extensions till date addresses the problem of non-delivery of messages.
The object and summary of the invention:
The object of this invention is to obviate the above drawbacks and specify alternate email recipients.
To achieve the said objectives this invention provides a computing system including an email system connected to an email network using the SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) protocol characterized in that the said system includes:                means for the sender to specify alternate recipients of an email message to be used in case the mail system can not deliver the message to the original recipient,        means for said email system to deliver the message to the specified alternate recipients in case it is unable to deliver to the original recipient.        
The said means for the sender to specify the alternate recipient is by addition of ARCPT (Alternate Recipient) parameter in said SMTP protocol.
The means for delivering the message to the specified alternate recipients is an extension to the SMTP server to include automatic forwarding of the message to the alternate recipients in case of inability to deliver to original recipients.
The said means for specifying the alternate recipient using the said ARCPT parameter can also be used by the recipient or the system administrator of the recipient server to forward emails to another address and alternate recipient on the recipient server shall hold priority over the one already in the email specified by the sender.
The above system further comprises:                means for the sender to specify notification by said email system of the successful delivery to the alternate recipients on failure to deliver to original recipient,        means for said email system to notify the sender based on the non-delivery of the message to the alternate recipients.        
The said means for the sender to specify the notification is by addition of ALTERNATE keyword to the NOTIFY parameter.
The said means for the said email system to notify the sender is an extension of the SMTP server to include sending of an email message to the sender in case of non-delivery of the message to the alternate recipients.
The above system further includes:                ARCPT keyword for specifying alternate recipients,        ALTERNATE keyword in the NOTIFY parameter, for specifying notification in case of delivery to alternate recipients.        
The present invention further provides in a computing system including an email system connected to an email network using the SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) protocol, a method for specifying alternate email recipients comprising:                specification of alternate recipients by the sender of an email message to be used in case the mail system can not deliver the message to the original recipient,        delivery of the message to the specified alternate recipients by the email system in case it is unable to deliver to the original recipient.        
The specification of the alternate recipient is by ARCPT (Alternate Recipient) parameter in said SMTP protocol.
The delivery of the message to the specified alternate recipients is an extension to the SMTP server to include automatic forwarding of the message to the alternate recipients in case of inability to deliver to original recipients.
The specification of the alternate recipient using the said ARCPT parameter can also be provided by the recipient or the system administrator of the recipient server to forward emails to another address and alternate recipient on the recipient server shall hold priority over the one already in the email specified by the sender.
The above method further comprises:                specification by the sender of notification by said email system of the successful delivery to the alternate recipients on failure to deliver to original recipient,        notification to the sender by the email system based on the non-delivery of the message to the alternate recipients.        
The specification of the notification is by addition of ALTERNATE keyword to the NOTIFY parameter.
The said notification to the sender is by an extension of the SMTP server to in, dude sending of an email message to the sender in case of non-delivery of the message to the alternate recipients.
The said method further includes:                ARCPT keyword for specifying alternate recipients,        ALTERNATE keyword in the NOTIFY parameter, for specifying notification in case of delivery to alternate recipients.        
The instant invention further provides a computer program product comprising computer readable program code stored on computer readable storage medium embodied therein for causing a computer to send email to alternate email recipients in case of inability to deliver to original recipient comprising                computer readable program code means configured for enabling the sender to specify alternate recipients of an email message to be used in case the mail system can not deliver the message to the original recipient,        computer readable program code means configured for causing the said email system to deliver the message to the specified alternate recipients in case it is unable to deliver to the original recipient.        
The said computer readable program code means configured for specifying the alternate recipient is by addition of ARCPT (Alternate Recipient) parameter in said SMTP protocol.
The computer readable program code means configured for delivering the message to the specified alternate recipients is an extension to the SMTP server to include automatic forwarding of the message to the alternate recipients in case of not delivering to original recipients.
The computer readable program code means configured for enabling the recipient or system administrator of the recipient server to specify an alternate email address using ARCPT parameter to forward emails to another address with the alternate recipient on the recipient server holding priority over the one already in the email specified by the sender.
The above computer program product further comprises:                computer readable program code means configured for enabling the sender to specify notification by said email system of the successful delivery to the alternate recipients on failure to deliver to original recipient,        computer readable program code means configured for causing said email system notify the sender based on the non-delivery of the message to the alternate recipients.        
The said computer readable program code means configured for specifying the notification is by addition of ALTERNATE keyword to the NOTIFY parameter.
The said computer readable program code means configured for notify the sender is an extension of the SMTP server to include sending of an email message to the sender in case of non-delivery of the message to the alternate recipients.
The said computer readable program code means further includes:                ARCPT keyword for specifying alternate recipients,        ALTERNATE keyword in the NOTIFY parameter, for specifying notification in case of delivery to alternate recipients.        